Posted 8 years ago by rachelbird in
You’re sat at the hairdressers and looking through the mirror and you can see exactly what your hairdresser is doing. She’s cut far too much of your fringe, or has dyed your hair yellow when you specifically asked for strawberry blond. One way or another, we have all sat and watched these dreaded events unfold only to put on a smile grit, your teeth at the end of the session only to say, “Thanks, it looks lovely.”
Burn injuries from hair treatment are amongst some of the most shocking personal injuries a person can suffer. The financial, physical, and emotional costs of burn treatment and recovery can be staggering for the victim and their family.
At Aequitas Legal we have previously had clients who have suffered from many burns. Whether it was a chemical burn at work, a hot wax burn at a beautician, a catering burn or even getting your hair bleached.
An example of a case we had here at Aequitas was a client of ours was getting married and went to her hairdressers a week before her wedding to have her hair tinted lighter. Unfortunately during the process of her treatment our client started complaining how the tingling sensation wasn’t how it normally felt but was assured that it was ok. After leaving the treatment whilst at a dress fitting, she noticed that her hair had turned yellow. After complaining to the hairdressers and arranging an appointment to rectify the mistake the client started to feel a burning sensation and from investigating they found blood on their scalp the client was in a lot of pain and hardly slept that night. The next day when other members of the family saw exactly what happened our client ended up in A&E where they were advised not much could be done other to wash their hair with baby shampoo. They met with the salon manager and at first he was pretty defensive about the whole situation. However once he was shown the damage that was caused and how burnt the skin was only then did he realised the mistake the salon had made.
Not only was she left with permanent discomfort and her wedding day was ruined because of the pain she was in at the time. We managed to argue that the salon didn’t take appropriate care of our client on her behalf , and of course no amount of money can give our client her wedding day back but at least the compensation will help her start her new married life.
In extreme cases, hair colouring or bleaching can cause alopecia. Usually the chemicals enter the cuticle, leading to dry, frail hair that’s likely to break resulting in the appearance of thinning hair. But sometimes, if there is a severe allergic reaction, or the chemicals in hair dye burn the scalp, the result can be unpleasant.
Aside from your legal solution, there are various steps you can take to get your life back to some sort of normality. One thing that is highly recommended is seeing more than one specialist to assist in your recovery. You may need to visit a specialist physio to deal with the physical pain, a plastic surgeon to help repair your skin or even a psychologist to deal with emotional issues just to name a few. This obviously could cost a lot of money and, you should speak with one of our experienced solicitors about including these costs as part of your damages in a personal injury claim.
There are many cases where accidents happen every day in beauty salons and the above was just one example and it is happening more frequently than ever. As the beauty industry continues to grow and more people are setting up businesses in small shops and within their own homes; the more inexperienced beauty therapist and hairdressers are hired and lack two main key qualities. 1. Not qualified to use various substances and equipment and 2. Have no understanding on how to use them. Women visit hair and beauty salons with the intentions to come out feeling better about themselves, but the deflation of a bad haircut is only the tip of the iceberg compared to what those who lose their hair go through.
If you a friend or a family member have been the victim of a serious burn and need some help or guidance, pick up the phone to see how we may be able to help you.
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